Passing round the begging bowl, a new departure

What does one understand by the concept of a charity? Mine is that it involves raising money from donors for spending on mangy donkeys, mistreated children or whatever. If they cannot raise the money, or the cause ceases to be live, the charity folds, yes?

"The government’s £42 million bail-out for recession-hit charities is a step in the right direction, but won’t be enough in the long-term, Unite, the largest union in the country, said today...The finances of the UK’s voluntary sector are under mounting pressure from losses in the Icelandic banks’ debacle; a decline in donations from the general public as the recession bites; and cut backs from local authorities as they struggle to keep council tax increases under control. Also, many charities have few assets to draw on to plug the gaps in their budgets...‘We are calling for more of this ministerial energy to be diverted to the voluntary and community sector, whose caseloads are rising dramatically because of the present situation. Resources should also be committed to preventative services, such as community arts.’

On that basis, we would still have active charities dealing with children sent up chimneys, preserving the dodo and who knows what else.